October 04, 2004
"Budget relief" tax to aid Colts?
How do you raise public money for a football stadium when your city is already facing a huge budget deficit? If you're Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, you propose one big tax that would funnel money to budget-balancing and to building a new Colts stadium all at the same time. Proposals being kicked around include a 1% sales tax hike and a 0.3% income-tax hike, or even legalized gambling; previous proposals to raise stadium funds have included restaurant, hotel-motel, and car-rental tax hikes. Of course, without a $500 million stadium as part of the package, Indianapolis could either raise taxes less, or stop such policies as borrowing to pay pension benefits - but the idea that spending public money one place means it can't be spent elsewhere is one that mayors seem to have a hard time wrapping their brains around.
